


The Shirt

by PrettyCalypso



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: 7x03, Bipolar Disorder, Break Up, Ian's POV, M/M, Season 6 and 7 canon compliant, and Mickey's shirt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-23 01:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8308837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyCalypso/pseuds/PrettyCalypso
Summary: Ian wears Mickey's shirt by accident the first time. But then he wears it again, and again.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So basically, I totally freaked out over the fact that Ian had very likely slept in Mickey's shirt in 7x03, and I wrote this little fic. It felt good.
> 
> Also, I know I haven't updated “Just a piece of paper” in a while, but I will do it soon, I promise.

 

It started as a mistake. Ian took a random shirt out of his dresser and put it on. It was only when Lip made a comment about the cut off sleeves that Ian realized the shirt wasn't his own. He didn't take it off, but he thought about it all day. When he went to work. When he met his brother for lunch. When he stayed in Caleb's apartment that night. He thought about the shirt. And he thought about its owner. He wondered if the smell was already gone, or he was just too used to it to notice it anymore. Maybe Fiona had washed it with all of their other stuff, maybe it only smelled like cheap detergent, maybe it smelled like the Gallagher house, maybe it smelled like Ian. And that night he slept like a baby. Maybe it was the shirt, or maybe it was just one of those nights.

 

The second time could have been a mistake, but not really. Ian found the shirt again, and hesitated for about half a second before he put it on. It was slightly too small, but also fitting perfectly somehow. And Ian smelled it this time. He was alone in his bedroom and he buried his nose in the piece of fabric, inhaling intensely, but not smelling anything he wish he could smell. He sighed and took the shirt off, wearing one of his own instead.

 

Two days later, Mandy called. Mandy who came crashing back in his life with the kind of shit typically Milkovich – and sometimes Gallagher too if Ian was being honest with himself. A dead man. A fucking dead man. They took care of it the correct way though, the way _normal people_ dealt with shit, calling the police and claiming it was an accident. That night Ian slept with Mandy in his bed. She smelled good, familiar, and Ian slept like a baby again. On the morning they talked about Mickey. Quickly, vaguely. It was the first time Ian admitted out loud he missed him. He did though. Some days more than others, but he really did.

 

The next time he took the shirt out of his dresser, Ian did it on purpose. He needed the memory. Not for any particular reason, it just felt good to wear it, to feel the fabric against his skin, to imagine that the smell was still there. And he slept well again. He liked to think the shirt helped.

 

He repeated the process, many times. He wore the shirt almost exclusively to sleep, but never when Caleb was sleeping next to him. Was it rational? Probably not. But it still made some sort of sense.

 

And then he broke up. And his meds stopped working. And everybody's advice – Rita, Sue, Fiona, Lip – was to sleep it off. Take your downers, sleep it off, go to the doctor. A simple process on paper. Ian hadn't been sleeping for several nights already. The first thing he did when he went into his bedroom was to find the shirt. He had to dig it out from under a pile of freshly cleaned clothes, and the shirt smelled just as fresh and clean, but Ian put it on anyway. And he slept, all night. Maybe it was the meds, maybe it was the shirt, or maybe a combination of both.

 

The shirt didn't smell like Mickey anymore. Maybe it would never smell like Mickey again, but the memory was still there. Unforgettable.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and/or comments. And you can also come talk and share with me on my [tumblr](http://ilostmylifeonline.tumblr.com/), it's always appreciated. :)


End file.
